Links
Recalls
Kawasaki 1-866-802-9381
Aprilia 1-212-380-4431

Motorcycle Safety Foundation

http://msf-usa.org

Road Hazard Reporting

http://roadhazard.org

ABATE of Indiana

http://abateonline.org

1-800-23ABATE

MotoCaribe Motorcycle Tours – Motorcycle tours in the Dominican Republic

http://motocaribe.com

1-877MOTOFUN ext 100

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Seriously, the legislators know that once a year they will hear from a group of riders that are passionate about maintaining their rights, both as motorcyclists and citizens. They know quite a few by name as our members stay in contact with their individual legislator throughout the year. We have been called the greatest, most powerful grass roots lobby organization in the State. We have had many victories over the years. From the repeal of the discriminatory add on motorcycle registration fee that called upon two wheel enthusiasts only to aid in funding spinal cord injury research to beating the many attempts to force mandatory helmet usage upon us.

We have accomplished this with dedication to the cause at hand. There is truth in the saying strength in numbers. There are people willing to spend a day at the Statehouse for the right to stand up and be heard. This is not only needed for motorcyclists. It is needed for all citizens. Assaults on our rights don’t only come from our states, they come from our federal government as well. We are being slammed in Washington right now and we need to stand up and be heard there as well.

On two levels I urge you to get involved. As a motorcyclist, join your state motorcyclist rights organization. Also join the AMA and / or the MRF. Just because you don’t live in DC and can’t lobby in person does not mean your voice can’t be heard. That is what the AMA and MRF are all about. They maintain a daily presence inside the beltway on our behalf. As a citizen, write and call your legislator on issues that you want heard. We put them there and they are supposed to work for us. We need to do our best to keep them honest and sitting back watching TV and complaining is not the answer. Keep them on their toes and let them know that you expect them to do the job you hired them to do. We need to take America back!

STAND UP AND BE HEARD MOTORCYCLE NATION

Speaking of leafless trees, fall brings us a special hazard. The season tends to be wet and the trees begin to shed their leaves after their beautiful change of color. As leaves fall to the ground and are saturated with the rain or dew, they become a great danger to a motorcyclist. Leaves on the road, once wet, become like a sheet of ice. Some motorcyclists that live in certain areas of the country have never had to experience this but we should all know what to do if we find ourself rounding a curve and see leaves covering the ground.

The way to handle this is the same way to handle almost any potential hazard that could be slick. First off, try to slow before reaching the hazard. Your speed should be slow enough that you can reduce or eliminate any lean angle required to continue on the path of travel. If going in a straight line all you need to do is scrub off some speed of course as you will not require lean angle anyway. Now that you have slowed and you are using very little or no lean angle, you should squeeze in your clutch and coast across the leaves. With the rear wheel not under power you have less of a chance of the wheel sliding out from under you. Once you have safely made it across the leaves ease the clutch out through the friction zone until you are back under full power. You don’t want to be quick on the clutch release as you do not know how much of that goo transferred to your tire. When the clutch is fully out, pick up your speed slowly and enjoy the rest of the ride.

Everybody ride safe out there and don’t forget that this is a good time of the year to experience deer and other animals. Keep your eyes open and Search, Evaluate, and Execute.

Steve

Well, it has been a couple weeks since the race was ran and we had a great time. We had tickets in the first turn but only stayed there for the 250cc race. For the 125cc race we met up with friend of the show Dan Lo from CornerSpeedPhoto Below is a pic of me and Dan outside turn 2. You can tell that neither me or my son are photographers.

Me and Dan Lo outside Turn 2 at Indy MotoGP 2009

We walked around the track and ended up on the hill outside of turn 10 for the Premier class. From this vantage point you can see the pack leave turn 9 and motor down the back stretch. From there you have an open view of them braking for turn 10 and running through the 180 turn 11. Throttling out of 11 we could see them pick up speed for turns 12 and 13 where they dropped behind a rise in the track and we could get a glimpse of the bikes running through 14. 15 was out of sight but we could catch them as they motored out of the final turn and hit the front stretch headed for home.

We saw some pretty good racing early on but the race was pretty much over after both front runners Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda and Valentino Rossi on the Fiat Yamaha crashed out on the front side of the circuit. From there, Rossi’s teammate at Yamaha, Jorge Lorenzo pretty much only needed to stay on the motorcycle to ride to the win. The only excitement after that point was the battle for the final spot on the podium. Second place Alex DeAngelis ran a good race and slowly pulled away from Nicky Hayden leaving Nicky to battle off Andres Dovizioso for third. This was a favorable podium as Indy is considered Hayden’s hometown track. Track attendance was estimated at 76,000+ spectators so motorcycle racing is definitely welcome in Indiana.

Get your tickets for the 2011 Indianapolis Red Bull MotoGP now. Indianapolis puts on a great show and you won’t be sorry.

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Indiana State Police Electra Glides provided escort.

Whoever ordered the weather up for this ride did well but could have turned the temperature dial back about 10 degrees. I am not sure how many miles were covered as I left after the second stop so I could get back to Indy in time to see the Colts preseason game. The two stops that I did make were Milan and Madison. Milan is famous for their 1954 winning of the state high school basketball championship. The small town team beat the largest high school powerhouses that year and was the team behind the movie Hoosiers. The second stop that I made was in Madison, a really neat town on the Ohio River that looks across into Kentucky. This town also has a famous side as it is the host of the Madison Regatta, a hydroplane racing event held annually on the river.

Ohio River at Madison, IN

Riding with the Governor is free and we had over 400 waivers signed for the ride. If you are in the Hoosier state I encourage you to come out next time and ride with us. No matter what your political party of choice is, it is encouraging to have a rider in charge. The motorcycle rides that the Governor puts on are about motorcycle awareness and when a reporter questioned him on Friday about helmets he made a great statement. He told them that he chooses to always wear a helmet but that education, not mandatory helmet laws is what will save lives. Way to go Governor!

Staging at the State Capitol building.

Besides his duties as the Executive Director of the largest State Motorcycle Rights Organization (SMRO) in the nation and his recent acceptance of the VP position with the MRF, Jay is often asked to speak at hearings and committee meetings in Washington, DC concerning motorcycle safety. ABATE of Indiana is proud of his accomplishments and congratulates him on his award. I am proud to work for and with him.

What has been happening besides that? Well, late spring brought a request from LiveNation, the outfit that handles tickets for Verizon Wireless Music Center (among many others) to plan rides to a series of concerts over the summer. ABATE plans a route and gets riders together for the all day ride. The ride takes the form of an observation ride where the participants are provided a list of questions that involve things to look for along the route. At the final stop, the riders with the most correct questions wins a prize pack that includes a meet and greet session backstage with that evenings lineup.

Through my involvement with ABATE, I have been on both of the rides that have happened this year. I got to see a great show that included Cross Canadian Ragweed, Trace Adkins, and Toby Keith. Trace and Toby were going to ride with us but it seems that Tony George offered up a few laps around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and it is said that they took him up on the offer. More recently, I led the ride that ended with the Lynyrd Skynyrd / Kid Rock show. The funny thing about that is that it poured all day and there were a whopping 2 bikes on the ride. Mine and the Ultra Classic that you saw in an earlier post about the Michigan trip. The beauty of it all is that by the time we hit the amphitheater the weather was perfect for an outdoor concert.

Anyway, both of these genres of music worked for motorcyclists. Country, southern rock, and hard rock play right into the lifestyle of two wheel enthusiasts. The other big one of course would be the blues. How can a biker deny some good blues? I am not sure that rap would go over as well! But, we have one more concert this year and hopefully I will get to play a part and attend this one as well. Ang and I have had a great time on the first two and if we make the next one we will get to see ZZ Top and Aerosmith. That would be a great way to end the summer. These perks are just one more way that motorcycling has paid me back.

How has motorcycling paid you back? Weigh in with your comments and until next time, Ride Safe.

Saturday begins the Miracle Ride with six Poker runs that leave various dealers across the state. The final stop for each poker run is a location somewhere in Indianapolis. If the riders from the farthest Poker Run origin point were to go straight to Indy without hitting the stops to pick up their cards it could take them 2-1/2 to 3 hours. So, some of these people put in some serious hours on the way to the capitol. The Poker Runs are a large part of the fundraiser and this year was no exception. The preliminary figure that were announced Sunday morning during staging for the organized ride was $220,000 just for the Poker Runs. For the eleventh year, Harley Davidson of Bloomington won the award for the most money raised on the run. They set a new record in ‘09 with $75,000 raised. Congratulations Owners Jeff and Carol Stevens and General Manager Jim Markham.

Sunday brings all the Poker Run participants along with those who just want to do the Sunday police escorted ride to the registration point which changed this year to Lucas Oil Stadium. During registration and staging there are some festivities going on such as Bob and Tom from the nationally syndicated radio program, The Bob & Tom Show, usually get up and get people laughing. The Indianapolis Colts offensive line usually gets up on stage too to tell people why they enjoy leading this ride. By the way, they left their bikes at home this year and Victory motorcycles brought out some of their models and let the guys ride those. And we also get a show from the Indianapolis Metro Police Motorcycle Drill Team.

Most people come to this ride for one reason. To help the kids. The ride kicks off and leaves the registration point and always makes its way over to Riley Hospital where some of the children line the sidewalk and watch all the bikes go by. From past experience it is very moving and tough to go through with dry eyes. From there, it continues through the streets of near downtown Indy to the world famous 16th Street, the same street that holds the Yard of Bricks. For those who wore a helmet there is a lap around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track. Some people come for this. It is fun and you don’t realize how much banking there really is on that track. After leaving the track they reach the end of the ride where there is entertainment, food, raffles, silent auctions, and four or five motorcycle giveaways. Yes, four or five.

Early figures for 2009 indicate that the ride raised around $375,000 for the kids. If you ever thought about traveling and hitting a charity ride, come on over to the Hoosier State and join us on the Miracle Ride. Tell them the Motorcycle Nation Podcast sent you. You won’t be sorry.

Ride safe and ride with a purpose.

I stopped by the ABATE of Indiana state office yesterday where Kim works as the HFIC, that would be Head FEMALE In Charge, of the Motorcycle Safety Division. Kim schedules all the classes for the safety program at the sixteen safety sites in the state. I stepped off my Softail and was checking out her bike when she came out the front door with the keys in hand. She told me to take the bike for a ride and I told her that I would take it around the block and would be right back.

Remember that I am riding a 1999 Softail Custom as my daily ride. We are talking the 80 cubic inch Evolution engine, which was still solid mounted to the frame during that production year, and a five speed tranny. This was my first experience on the Harley Davidsons with the 96″ engine and the six speed transmissions. I have to say that I was impressed with Kim’s Street Bob.

Kim with her new Street Bob outside the ABATE of Indiana offices.

Really good power through the gears, even in sixth when I cranked the throttle from sixty-five mph and held on to one hundred before I decided I did not want a ticket that day. I like the shift points with the six speed tranny but really can’t think of any use for that gear other than being on the interstate hammering out the miles. Shifting was very smooth and was a little confusing without that trademark “clunk” during each shift. The handling was very nice although my route did not allow me to give a good test of the lean angles of the bike as any roads with any curves are 20 miles farther to the South. Overall I loved the ride.

Speaking of curves, I have to share a story from a friend from a few years ago. I got an email from him one evening and I read the email and noticed that he had placed a new sentence into his ending signature. We have all heard of Deal’s Gap with their 318 curves in 11 miles. Well my friend lives in Kansas and he signed off on his email by saying, “Kansas, 11 curves in 318 miles.” And now you have the rest of the story.

Back to new bikes. So, for the past 10 months I have been surrounded by new bikes. I have had the opportunity to ride a few of them and came away impressed with all. All but one have been from the Motor Company and that was a BMW f800GS. That is an amazing motorcycle as well and it is on my list of bikes that I would like to have. A little adventure would be fun. Put some miles on and go to a place where you could enjoy the attributes of the Beemer’s off road side would be pure pleasure. I have the New Bike Fever bad, all this is missing is the Big Bank Account to go with it. If you have purchased a new motorcycle lately, let us know about it. I can live through you.

Ride Safe